When Nate took the leap from "Ministry" to "Military" I was a little nervous. I've never been great with change. The thought of moving from place to place, meeting new people and making new friends was a little daunting in my mind. When he took off for OCS my heart rode away with him...
A couple of weeks later I got my very first lesson in flexibility (I would have plenty more of those to learn while adjusting to military life). I moved to Pensacola. This entailed picking out a house, setting everything up, and finding a job. All of this so that Nate and I could see each other for a couple of hours each Sunday (here we are on our very first visit)...
It was more than worth the effort. It was on one of these Sunday visits that I met his new buddy Ian...
Well it wasn't long before we had convinced his spunky little wife to move down to Pensacola and in with me! And just like that I made my very first "military friend"...
To my surprise it was painless, easy and the start of a beautiful friendship! We hit it off and saw each other through weeks on end without our guys and even weathered a hurricane together (a couple of weeks living in a shelter form quite a bond). When our guys graduated I felt like I was graduating too in a sense, I was now "officially" a military wife...
I knew very little about what that really meant. Lucky for me I was about to meet my next military bud, enter Elaine (pictured here with her husband Shawn, Nate, and Me pregnant with Carter)...
They had a lot more experience with this "military stuff" and she was sweet enough to show me the ropes. They introduced us to our first OCF (Officers Christian Fellowship) experience, and it was a sweet one. We spent hot days at the beach and I can remember more than one night that we just drove the coastal rodes listening to music and laughing at our husbands. After meeting Elaine and Allison I was beginning to think this whole "military thing" wasn't such a bad gig. But, I was about to learn another tough military lesson...goodbyes. Meeting these wonderful girls only to have to move away felt like a cruel joke. It was painful and I found myself thinking I might just rather not make new friends in our next new home. I knew we wouldn't be there long and it seemed like a waste of time and energy. Enter Sam...
No matter how badly I thought I didn't want to make new friends when I met Sam I was a goner. She was sweet, kind and swept me right up into play dates and sunny days at the pool. Her little girl Kennedy was Carter's first real friend, I get tears in my eyes just thinking about it...
Sam and I just clicked. I felt like I had know her for years after a just few short months. Through Sam I met Katie...
Newly married and full of joy Katie quickly became one of my favorite people to be around. She always had a smile and something yummy from her kitchen to share, I loved that about her. Jacksonville also landed me around the corner from Kimberly...
Kim was a bubbly addition to my circle of friends, she is also one of the most stunning beauties I've ever met. While living in Jacksonville I was learning my second tough military lesson, living away from family was tough, especially with a new baby. How sweet that through this group of friends I truly felt like I had family close by. We had nights out, nights in and some pretty competitive game nights (boys vs. girls of course). It was unexpected, it was special, and it was like ripping off a band aid when we had to leave. This pattern of loving and leaving wasn't my cup of tea. I was sad, blue, and a little gray (just like the little island we had moved to) when I met Janelle (which as a side note to Janelle let me just say it is completely unacceptable and pathetic that this is the only photo I can find of the two of us together, note to self have someone snag a photo of you and your friend when you have makeup and are looking snazzy)...
Janelle was waiting to welcome me to Whidbey with open arms. Remember my good friend Elaine from a little earlier? Well, Elaine and Janelle had been hanging ever since she and I parted ways. Sadly Elaine and I missed living in the same town again by a few short months, but she passed on her good buddy Janelle! Another military lesson learned, passing on new friends to old ones is a beautiful thing. Janelle was the go to gal of Whidbey. She had me plugged in socially in the blink of an eye. She loves with her whole heart and is one of the most fiercely loyal people I have ever met. She was a God send. Her sweet boys and Carter became fast friends...I don't think she'll ever forget Connor and Cooper. And through Janelle I met Mindi...
Mindi whose sweet girls took mine under their wing...
Mindi was laid back, easygoing and refreshing to be around. We could spend hours just sitting outside with our kiddo's playing in the drive way. We could garden, berry pick, or just do nothing at all, whatever it was we loved every second we spent with the Kephart girls (and their guy)...
Whidbey was also my very first experience with a Spouses Group. I had heard my share of horror stories and wasn't quite sure what to expect. Lucky for me it was anything but horrific. Through Nate's squadron I met some pretty awesome people. A few of them were gone pretty quickly after we arrived (I'm thinking Shannon and Beth) but I still feel blessed to have met them. Others I would know much longer, enter Molly...
The first year we were in Whidbey Molly married Nate's go to guy Kenny. This was one of the best things that ever happened to me because this brought Molly to Washington. She became the girl I couldn't live without and we kept each other company at those "mandatory events" on more than one occasion...
The friends I made through the spouses group were the ones that I learned to lean on as I began to experience the heartache that comes with months on end away from your husband (pictured here Whitney, Lara, Molly, Stacy, Amy, Jamie, Me and Cat)...
We found fun ways to fill our time (Jamie, Molly, Me, Stacy, Maddie, Carter, Bradley and Shanna)...
They knew exactly how I was feeling (Cat, Sole, Whitney, Me, Molly, and Kristin)...
Because they were feeling it too (Jamie, Molly and I)...
There is something really special about that (Shanna and Bradley)...
Together we celebrated husbands returning home (Jamie, Molly, Me, Whitney, Amy, and Lara)...
And reasons to buy a new dress (Lindsey, Jamie, Amy, Molly, Me pregnant with Emerson, Whitney, and Lara)...
And while our most recent move has once again left me feeling that pain that comes with saying goodbye and "starting over" today I feel nothing but grateful. As I look back at our "military map" so far I can so easily see God's faithfulness to me. There is a thread that runs through each friendship I've made loosely connecting them from the very first to the very latest. And while the pain of goodbyes is something I would rather not face it has become so evident that I'm never really saying goodbye. Each of you are still in my life (Amen to blogging keeping us closer). I never lose the friends I leave behind, I just add new ones along the way.
Today I just wanted to take a little time to recognize each of these amazing women and what they have meant in my life. Your husbands are lucky men and I love you.
*To visit Wives of Faith and read other military wives blogs on appreciation click here!
14 comments:
That was so beautiful, and gives me hope since we are in the middle of yet another PCS. We weren't here long enough to make many friends, but I'm hoping once we get settled to make the connections we did in the past. Thank you for sharing!
Now THAT makes me cry!!! What an amazing journey! You are so strong and brave and confident! Thank you for your sacrifices and sharing them in a way that touches my heart!
oh wow...I have tears...thank you for sharing all this!
You Rock!
Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day!
This is amazing...and has inspired me to take more pictures of all my friends in the military!
YOU ROCK!
That was beautiful. The friends I've made have been the best part of the military experience hands down. Thanks for sharing.:)
I am so glad that we hit off right from the start and that even though we haven't been in the same state since then (2005/2006), we still remain friends! I hope that one day we will be back in the same place so that we can spend more time together. We love you and your family! (I think I have a picture of me, you and Janelle at the park that one day I was in Whidbey - and we might have make up on!0
That was such a sweet and touching tribute to your friends!
I found your blog through Wives of Faith Blog Carnival.
I'm going to start following your blog now. Have a wonderful weekend!
A wonderful post Beth and a tribute to how military wives are there to help each other along the way. I hope Nate sticks with the community for his DH tour so that we'll see you guys again!
You and your beautiful posts! What a fun look back on your military journey. And what a shock to see my face on your blog! We sure had a good time back in Florida! I really hope we can get together with ya'll and the Klines while we're all in Texas! Maybe some of your amazing ability to make friends would rub off on me!
Just so you know, your blogs the last 3 days have been very encouraging to me. I had never heard of the Wives of Faith website, and it's been great looking through it. I've been really anxious about our next move, and I feel like your posts and that website have started to get me to a little better place about tackling this next move. I never thought I would love it here in Washington so much, but I did mostly because of great friends like you.
Wow Beth! This blog was beyond sweet! You were and will always be a friend I'll hold dear to my heart. I'll never forget how I prayed for a great group of women to come into my life when we lived in JAX...within a month I was blessed with an awesome group of friends! Thanks for the sweet words!
Beth, isn't God the most amazing! It has been such a joy to watch your life unfold...seeing God's faithfulness and goodness go with you every step of the way! What a precious post Beth!
As always, you hit the nail on the head, Beth! Life as a military wife can be scary and uneasy, but it's so nice to know that you're not the only one going through it and have the reminders of all of the positives that come out of it. I'm glad I was able to share even the slightest bit of time with you on Whidbey and hope that we'll cross paths again very soon! :)
i love you and cant wait to be near you!
thanks for being here to welcome me after we got married. thanks for telling me what to wear to my first hail and bail. thanks for always having a home cooked meal for me and just letting me be part of your family.
Post a Comment